How to get an Empyreum house in FFXIV

Getting a house has always been an awful experience in FFXIV, though with the addition of the new Empyreum housing area in Ishgard, the developers added a couple of changes to the housing system. Our FF14 housing guide explains how to sign up for housing lotteries and hopefully get a house in the new area.

Update (April 18): We’ve updated this guide with information caused by the recent housing issues.

What is different with FFXIV housing?

Before patch 6. 1, all new housing areas were first-come first-served. All housing plots previously occupied by someone else had to be vacated and waited for the invisible timer expire before they could be purchased. This means you would have to sit at a lot for a random amount of time (which could take over 20 hours, if you were unlucky) clicking a placard to try to buy the house.

According to Square Enix, “At the release of Patch 6. 1, all land available for purchase will be subject to the lottery system.” In the future, some wards may still use the first-come, first-served (old) system, but for now, everything will be using a lottery.

How does the lottery system work?

Each character can select one house to join the lottery for. Houses will take lottery entries for five days. After that, a winner will be picked, and the winner will have four days to claim the plot. If it goes unclaimed, a new lottery will begin for that plot.

To enter the lottery, click the placard in front of the empty plot you want to sign up for. You need to pay the full price of the housing plot up front, but it will be returned to you if you don’t get the land. To get your refund, you will need to return to the original placard.

If you win the lottery but do not claim the plot after winning, you’ll lose 50% of the deposited gil.

How do I get a house for myself?

Head to the Empyreum housing ward in Ishgard with the amount of gil your desired house size costs. (Smalls cost 3-4 million gil, mediums cost 16-20 million, and larges cost 40-50 million.) You can click the placard to select the lot that you are interested in, then deposit the gil and ask for good luck.

To qualify for a home, the following :

must be met.

• At least one class must to be level 50 or higher
• Grand Company rank second lieutenant or higher

How do I get a house for my Free Company?

To get a house for a Free Company, it’s pretty much the same thing. To sign up for the lottery click the placard located at the lot you wish to enter. However, only one house can be entered at once so sign up now for your personal home.

Any member of a Free Company may sign up to the lottery, provided they fulfill the eligibility requirements. This means your FC can have several entries on one lot if your FC mates all apply for the same lot.

To be eligible for the Free Company Housing Lottery, the following :

must be completed.

• Your Free Company must be at least rank 6.
• Your FC has to have at least 4 members.
• You need permission from your FC in order to purchase land.
• You need to be in the FC for at least 30 days.

What about housing outside of Ishgard?

Many players with homes elsewhere will be able to enter the Empyrium housing lotteries for better places or larger houses. This means lots of vacant plots will become available after the initial lottery ends.

Square Enix has confirmed to us via email that all plots will use the lottery system in patch 6. 1 until further announced, even if they open via relocation.

A new lottery will be held after the nine-day period has ended. All lotteries are now suspended until Square Enix can resolve the housing lottery problem.

What big problem happened during the first lottery?

A lot of houses were able successfully use the lottery system which led to purchase plots. A lot of the houses also claimed that 0, the number which won the lottery, was the winner. This was a number that was not assigned to anyone. It means there were many plots that failed to work and no one was able win the lottery, even though they had the sole entry.

According to Square Enix, the lottery worked as intended, but the results were not displayed properly. Square Enix still has the lottery data and will draw numbers again from the first lottery pool. There are some issues they need to sort out before they do this, though, such as how to reenter people who already reclaimed their gil from the placards.

Once the developers do figure this out, there will be a maintenance for all the servers, which restores the lottery data and (hopefully) gets players the houses they deserve. This guide will be updated as soon as the maintenance announcement is made.